Mother reveals her horror after a scratch on her skin caused her to catch a carnivorous insect

A four-year-old mother revealed how she had continued to fight for her life after a skin fracture caused by a scratch that gave her a carnivorous beetle.

Liz Hewat, 51, from Chisholm, Victoria, whose frightening ordeal began when she scratched the red bumps on her skin, was taken to Canberra Hospital, where her worst fears were confirmed and the necrotizing fasciitis was diagnosed.

In an effort to save her life, doctors were forced to cut a large portion of Liz’s skin and muscles – 20 cm long, 10 cm wide and 6 cm deep – before performing four more operations to scrape the infection.

Lix had spent time with her three youngest children, Edward, then 17, Victoria, 15, and Henry, 13, during school holidays when she noticed small itchy red bumps on the inside of her right lower leg.

The mother, whose eldest son, Charles, had moved 19 years ago, said: “I had not used any new skin care products or had underlying skin conditions, but what caused the bumps made them crazy. “I’m sure it will disappear by itself, I thought.”

But a few days later, Liz, who had just seen a man at a medical show a month earlier, caught the bug after cutting his leg from a rose bush, realized that she had broken her skin and had the wound with Dettol cleaned before covering it with a plaster.

She said: “I realized that I had thoughtlessly scratched the red bumps on my leg that I had broken the skin.

‘I cleaned it with Dettol and covered it with a BAND-AID to prevent bacteria from spreading. However, when I woke up the next day, my calf was swollen and red. “

The mother, who had been suffering from rheumatoid arthritis for the past 14 years, initially assumed that the red bumps were just another flare.

With Liz’s husband Andrew at a meeting, and her children Edward and Victoria planning to stay at friends’ house that evening, Liz started making a game of spaghetti Bolognese.

After she had sent her children off and retired to the couch, the mother realized that her skin was getting worse.

She said: ‘Around 5.30 pm I couldn’t put any weight on my leg while I was cooking the food.

‘In the meantime, the redness of my ankle had spread to my knee and the area felt as if it was very burnt.

“Suddenly I felt a shiver go over me, so I wrapped myself in a fleece blanket and went to bed with a jug.

“But the pain in my leg was so unbearable that I couldn’t even cope with the pressure of the sheet. I will feel better when I am asleep, I have convinced myself.

“By the time Andrew got home around ten o’clock, I was completely crazy. Then he saw a small black spot on my ankle. “

As the black dots spread over her knee in the coming hours, husband Andrew called an ambulance and the mother was taken to the hospital where her worst fears were confirmed by medical staff.

She continued: “He took a photo on his phone to show it to me, and I was shocked. It looked exactly like a man from the show who had necrotizing fasciitis. “My meat is dying,” I called to Andrew. “

At the hospital, doctors confirmed to Liz that the carnivorous insect was caused by a break in the skin by the scratch and she was immediately prepared for surgery, where doctors would try to remove the extremely vicious bacterial infection.

Liz asked a doctor what was going on and he bluntly told her: “You’ll lose your leg or die.”

Terrified, she begged Andrew to tell their children that she loves them.

The next day, Liz woke up in intensive care and was told that surgeons, despite cutting a large part of skin and muscles, were 20 cm long, 10 cm wide and 6 cm deep and from her knee to her ankle, surgeons had managed to remove the contaminated area.

She said: ‘As a 28-year-old, I had struggled with my weight all my life.

“Incredibly, doctors revealed that because I was a bigger person, the extra meat on my calf meant that the insect didn’t get a chance to get all the way to my bones.

“I couldn’t believe that my extra weight had saved my life.

“When a doctor lifted the blankets to show me my leg, I was shocked. Sealed with a vacuum bandage to help remove the gunk inside, it still looked angry and red.

“Despite that, I was so thankful that I was alive.”

The mother, who now believes she has been given a “second chance in life,” then underwent four more operations to scrape the infection out over the course of five weeks.

She also had a skin graft on her calf with skin taken from her upper thigh.

She continued: ‘Once my doctor was satisfied with the transplant, I was allowed to go home, but my recovery was not over yet because I had to change my bandage every day and needed a wheelchair to move me.

“Fortunately, Andrew had taken nine months off to be with me every step of the way.

She added: “With a second chance at life, I knew that I had to fully embrace it and give priority to my health.

‘So I changed my diet, I removed all junk food and soft drinks, instead I opted for smaller portions of lean proteins and vegetables.

‘Now, more than two years after developing the infection, I have lost no less than 80 kg (12.5 stone) and am wearing size 18.

“We are so proud of you,” the children often say.

‘I share my story in the hope that others will immediately see the importance of medical help if something doesn’t feel right. Your health is not worth the risk.

“I didn’t let you hit, I now think when I look at my wound.”